Month: April 2017

LinkedIn is the most used social network platform by recruiters as it’s a goldmine for sourcing hard-to-find talent. However, one of the features not used enough by recruiters are LinkedIn Groups! Not only can LinkedIn Groups provide large pools of talent, they also provide a place for professionals in the same industry (like recruiters!) to share content, have discussions, make meaningful connections and establish themselves as thought leaders.

There are thousands of LinkedIn Groups dedicated to HR and recruitment so we decided to research the best ones and list our top 10. Whether it’s for finding candidates or for readily accessible high-quality content covering all things recruitment, you will definitely find value in joining all of these LinkedIn Groups:

Another large group with plenty of discussion, Recruitment Consultants and Staffing Professionals is geared towards corporate staffing professionals, agency recruiters, headhunters/executive searchers, career coaches, talent managers, HR Directors, employer branding experts… you name it! Because the group admins do a good job of regulating content and removing any spam, there is always plenty of discussions around relevant topics like recruiting using video, building your personal brand and applicant tracking systems.

An absolute monster of a group, The Recruitment Network’s goal is to “bring together people dedicated to open networking with innovation, integrity and transparency”. Because of the size of the group, spam posts do manage to slip through sometimes but overall, this is a great group to join as it has content on virtually every HR or recruitment-related topic.

You can determine the quality of a LinkedIn Group by scanning through the member list and this group is filled with industry experts like Greg Savage, David Macciocca and our very own Johnny Campbell. It’s a group for information more so than anything else, as there is not a lot of interaction among discussions topics.

1. Create a Public Profile Badge

Searching for profiles on LinkedIn can be a difficult pursuit due to the sheer number of them. Take into account similar names and fields of occupation, and it could be an endless pursuit. As a result, one of the most important tips for improving your LinkedIn profile’s reach is to promote it beyond LinkedIn itself.

An easy, effective way to do this is to create a LinkedIn public profile badge. Accessing this page while logged into LinkedIn will result in a variety of button sizes and accompanying HTML codes.

These can be easily inserted on any website or blog so visitors can more easily find your LinkedIn page. A public profile page is the best way to improve your LinkedIn profile’s reach if you run a blog or website.

2. Leverage Plugins

Plugins on LinkedIn often go overlooked. LinkedIn provides the option for members to incorporate LinkedIn functionality into their own website. The page generates customized JavaScript code for a variety of features, ranging from showing your number of followers to a list of new job listings. They all share the benefit of connecting visitors with you or your business’ LinkedIn presence.

The “Follow” plugin is especially useful for sites, as it provides visitors the ability to add you on LinkedIn with a single click. You can customize this and other plugins by language and vertical/horizontal settings.

For businesses, the “Company Profile” plugin provides a quick and reliable summary of the business’s size and origin story. As a conveniently sized widget, it’s a quick and immersive tool to acquaint new readers with the business at hand.

It’s no secret that LinkedIn is the number one social networking site for B2B Marketers.

Given the network’s user base of over 380 million and the fact that it’s a source of 80% of B2B social media leads, LinkedIn’s prominence in the B2B industry will not change any time soon.

So if and when LinkedIn makes a necessary change it is important that organizations make a note.

LinkedIn has made more than 2 million discussion groups private, a major step in the social network’s efforts towards improving the quality and professional nature of membership groups.

The move here was based on feedback of LinkedIn groups who craved real connections with peers and industry leaders helping them learn and grow.

Along with making the groups private, LinkedIn has also introduced several other changes that warrant a closer look for any brand making strides and gaining social presence on the network.

Here are the eight changes to LinkedIn groups that B2B marketers need to be aware of.

2. Privacy of groups mean they won’t be indexed by search engines

The information that is generally shared on LinkedIn groups won’t be sharable via Google or any other search engine.

This exclusivity will increase the value of conversations held in different groups, followed by the fact that new ideas and strategies shared among members will be known to the ones who are a part of the group.

This major change will help B2B marketers establish thought leadership, showcasing knowledge that can lead prospective clients and customers to come back and check their company page, employee profiles and marketing collateral.

3. Group members will now be vetted

In order to join any LinkedIn group you need to make sure that your credentials are updated.

Having a professional image is a must, as well as having a fully fleshed out profile so that group administrators can assess how well they fit into their community. This generally works out positive for marketers who have spent deliberate time in optimizing their company profiles.

LinkedIn, once your online resume, has morphed into your opportunity to introduce yourself to others and attract the attention of those who need to know you. However, mindsets are slow to shift, and those who still consider LinkedIn nothing more than a digital resume are missing out on some of the biggest opportunities LinkedIn has ever offered. In a world that is becoming more virtual, with remote work becoming the norm, LinkedIn often delivers your first impression. To make sure you come across as the wildly interesting, compelling, and accomplished person you are, focus on the following six elements of your profile.

2. A custom background

It’s the single biggest opportunity to stand out from the myriad others who do what you do. You’ve heard the adage “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Well, here’s your opportunity to add a thousand extra words to your profile with one click. But make sure the image conveys the right ideas. Include a background that reinforces what you want people to know about you. Even just choosing a color that exudes your brand attributes will have an impact on the viewers of your profile.

3. A custom headline

If you don’t include a headline, LinkedIn uses your job title for your current role. Your headline is like the headline of an ad. It’s designed to capture the reader’s attention and make them want to know more. Consider these compelling headlines: